Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Tuesday December 22nd

I am all packed, the house is clean and I leave tomorrow for Dayton. The only hitch in my day was the fact that the winds kicked up early and ripped part of the  roof off of my home this afternoon.

Luckily, my handy man Monte was not busy and he spent several hours patching the issue to get me through the rains that were due to hit this evening. And hit they did… The rains came with a vengeance and they smelled so good and all of the vegetation in my yard has been very thirsty.

I have a very cavalier attitude about the plants on my property. I do not water any of them, no matter what genus they are (well except for my Oleander plants)… my philosophy is "Live or Die" If they can get through the heat of the summer and make it to the monsoons then survive the dry of the fall till the winter rains hit then they are the hearty vegetation that I knew they were and they can stay … other than that … sorry.

Did you know that today is Puccini's birthday? … this dude was an amazing composer and is responsible for one of my favorite operas … Manon Lescaut. originally produced in 1731, this was one of the first operas that I ever listened to and I was introduced to this opera with the voice of Maria Callus singing the role of Manon. The opera takes place in France and ends up in Louisiana. The last act takes place in the desert outside New Orleans. Puccini never made it to America and just assumed that Louisiana was part of the Wild West. That story makes me smile every time I hear the score, just pondering Puccini's image of all of the cactus in the desert outside of New Orleans. I guess he had never heard of Lake Pontchartrain.

Listen here to one of the most famous arias ever, preformed by one of the most amazing voices to ever sing the role of Manon …

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